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www.lawgazette.co.uk
27 June 2016
galloway libel foe
hits out at lawyers
PA PhoToS
By John Hyde » A former teacher
Aisha Ali-Khan: ‘I want to begin a campaign’
and aspiring lawyer who says she was
forced to fight a lone libel battle with
George Galloway has pleaded with
the legal profession to change its
approach to litigants in person.
Aisha Ali-Khan last week secured
undisclosed damages – reported to
be a five-figure sum – and an apology
from the former MP after he posted a
series of claims in a blogpost in 2012.
The claims were then repeated to a
national newspaper by Galloway’s
spokesperson.
Ali-Khan was dropped by her
original lawyers in 2014 and was
encouraged by family members and
Galloway’s lawyers to drop her case.
But the Bradford woman was undeterred. She spent months researching case law and studying libel law
before contesting the matter in the
High Court, where she successfully
defeated a strike-out application.
Reflecting on the outcome, AliKhan described the experience as
‘horrendous’ and claimed it was made
worse by lawyers and the courts.
‘I want to begin a campaign to
encourage lawyers to abide by the
guidance issued on how to treat LiPs,’
she said. ‘That means not using legal
jargon, not imposing 24-hour limits
for responses to letters and not making massive bundles.
‘I feel LiPs are badly treated and
exploited for the fact they cannot
access a lawyer.’
Ali-Khan said she would regularly
be sent important emails from opposing lawyers at 6pm on a Friday, making it difficult to offer any immediate
reply without researching what to say.
She also felt ‘bombarded’ by paperwork during the course of the case,
and struggled with the processes and
surroundings of the courtroom.
‘There was so much technical language being used. I am an English
teacher and have a fairly good grasp
of language, but before the judge it
was just gobbledygook for me.’
Matters came to a head earlier this
year when Ali-Khan won a strikeout hearing, after which she secured
representation from media lawyer
Mark Lewis to handle the settlement
negotiations.
Ali-Khan has now decided to take a
law degree and will begin her course
in Leicester this September.
She also wants to offer advice to
LiPs: ‘I hope I can be in a position to
help other people,’ she added. ‘Those
without lawyers to explain [things]
don’t have access to the same fair
justice they should be entitled to.’
Ali-Khan also urged regulation of
websites purporting to offer legal
advice for a few hundred pounds,
which she said were designed to attract
people unable to afford a lawyer.
ABC 109,754
10
Somme
anniversary:
No other single
day in history
can have taken
such a toll on
the solicitors’
profession
14
Roundtable:
Residential
conveyancers
discuss the
economics
of a volatile
sector
The level of
reduction in
this case sets
a worrying
precedent p13
12 Comment
20 In-house
22 Update
26 In Person
27 Jobs
36 Obiter
Shiner fights for anonymity at SDT hearing
By John Hyde » The high-profile
solicitor facing allegations of misconduct in relation to claims made against
British soldiers in Iraq was fighting to
have charges against him kept secret
as the Gazette went to press.
Lawyers for Phil Shiner, of Birmingham firm Public Interest Lawyers,
made the argument last week at a
preliminary hearing of the Solicitors
Disciplinary Tribunal held in camera.
After a challenge by lawyers representing the Mail and Sun newspapers, the tribunal ruled that the fact
that Shiner has been charged could
be made public.
The case management hearing was
listed for 2pm on Wednesday, with the
cause list identifying two respondents
as L1 and L2. Arguments about Shiner’s
anonymity during proceedings lasted
the entire afternoon and ended only
when the tribunal office closed at 6pm.
Public Interest Lawyers is one of
two firms facing allegations of misconduct following the collapse of
the Al-Sweady inquiry into alleged
atrocities carried out by British forces
following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Earlier in the week, the tribunal listed
a 30-day substantive hearing against
a second firm, London human rights
specialist Leigh Day, to begin from 6
March next year.
The Shiner case is also expected to
Continued on page 2
1 cover.indd 1
www.lawgazette.co.uk
23/06/2016 18:15
4 July 2016
ABC 109,754
law firms
given all
clear on
lobbying
By John Hyde » The government’s
lobbying tsar has given the legal sector
a clean bill of health after raising concerns over why so few firms signed up
to a mandatory register. Alison White
says firms are taking their compliance
duties ‘very seriously’.
All organisations involved in the
business of consultant lobbying, as
defined by legislation passed in 2014,
have to sign up to the register or risk
facing criminal proceedings.
So far six law firms have joined the
register to cover them in the event
of their having direct contact with
government ministers.
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance
and alternative business structure
PwC Legal were the first law organisations to register. Anthony Gold
Solicitors, Cooley UK, Preiskel & Co
and Stikeman Elliott (London) LLP
have joined the list since the turn of
the year.
But with law firms making no effort
to hide their public affairs work –
indeed, some have dedicated teams
– questions have arisen over why so
many slipped through the net.
White, registrar of consultant lobbyists, raised concerns in talks with
the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
‘Having identified probably 15 or 20
organisations doing this I am in the
process of working my way through
them and having telephone meetings
with them all,’ White told the Gazette.
‘I wanted to establish what arrangements they have with clients and what
compliance processes they’ve got.
‘I have been pleased to see all the
organisations I’ve spoken to have
taken the area of compliance very
seriously and have issued advice to
their partners.’
White said the defined terms of the
legislation – describing consultant lobbying as contact with ministers or permanent secretaries – mean law firms
can justify not joining the register.
‘Lots of public affairs work is not
about this – they work with MPs or
less senior civil servants but don’t
interact at the top level,’ she added.
Chancery Pii’s Mark Carver: ‘Reducing the minimum cover will create a
two-tier market and put more pressure on small firms’ PII Special, p12
27
Streamlined
SRA codes of
conduct and
accounts rules
have much
to commend
them to
solicitors
Rozenberg p8
Cheer up on
Brexit: we are
well equipped
to adapt
Many litigants in
person are able
to fund access to
a judge p11
10 Comment
26 In Practice
33 Jobs
32
My legal life –
success in the
bespoke field
of industrial
disease can
change someone’s life, says
Lorna McGlone
EU vote casts doubt on Unified Patent Court
By Michael Cross » An early casualty of UK withdrawal from the EU
could be Europe’s long-drawn-out
scheme to create a unified patent
regime. The Unified Patent Court, due
to open next year, will have two sections in London: a local division and
the UK’s share of the central division.
They will be housed in Aldgate Tower,
1 Cover.indd 1
a new 18-storey block on the edge of
the City, with four courtrooms capable
of hearing around 16 cases a week. Its
offices are due to open for preparatory
work this month.
However the referendum result
has cast doubt over the future of not
just the UK’s participation – which
depends on EU membership – but of
the whole court and the new unitary
patent system it is set up to regulate.
Rebecca Halford-Harrison, IP disputes partner at London boutique
firm Kemp Little, pointed out that the
treaty creating the court requires formal ratification by 13 countries, among
them the UK. In the UK’s absence, the
treaty which was agreed through the
EU’s enhanced cooperation procedure,
would need to be amended. With Milan
the most likely alternative to London,
this could prompt objections by other
member states. Halford-Harrison said
the UK had provided ‘a significant proportion’ of the effort to create the court
and without its involvement the enterprise could founder.
30/06/2016 18:28
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